Diagnostic potential of magnetic resonance imaging in children with nutcracker syndrome / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the diagnostic potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children with nutcracker syndrome (NCS).Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed in patients with suspected NCS(155 cases) diagnosed in the Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command from January 2017 to July 2020.Suspected NCS was diagnosed primarily based on clinical signs or symptoms, laboratory testing, and imaging reports, and other conditions that may cause hematuria and/or proteinuria were excluded.MRI examination was performed in all patients.According to the diagnostic criteria of NCS, patients diagnosed as NCS with the compression of the left renal vein (LRV) were included in the NCS group(58 cases), and those without the compression of the LRV or with the compression of the LRV but was not consistent with the diagnosis of NCS were included in the control group(97 cases). t test, Mann- Whitney U test and χ2 test were used to compare the baseline characteristics, clinical characteristics and imaging characteristics of the children in the nutcracker group and the control group.Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to explore the diagnostic potential of MRI in children with NCS. Results:(1)The area under curve of the angle between the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and the aorta, compression ratio (CR) and beak sign in diagnosing NCS in children were 0.870, 0.895 and 0.878, respectively.(2)The optimal cut-off values of the angle between the SMA and the aorta and CR were 36.8° and 3.99, respectively.(3)The specificity of the angle between the SMA and the aorta<36.8°, beak sign, CR>3.99, the angle between the SMA and the aorta combined with beak sign, the angle between the SMA and the aorta<36.8° combined with CR>3.99, and beak sign combined with CR>3.99 in diagnosing NCS in children were 82.5%, 93.8%, 93.5%, 97.9%, 95.9% and 97.9%, respectively.Conclusions:Children with the angle between the SMA and the aorta<36.8°, beak sign and CR>3.99 suggested on MRI scans should be highly suspected of NCS.The beak sign has the highest specificity in the diagnosis of NCS in children, and the combination of any two parameters has a higher specificity than a single parameter.